Casas de Rocíohttp://casasderocio.com
When you stay here you are familySun, 14 Oct 2018 23:29:50 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.9Finally, the Camera is Back On-Linehttp://casasderocio.com/finally-the-camera-is-back-on-line/
Sun, 14 Oct 2018 23:29:50 +0000http://casasderocio.com/?p=841It has been a long process but the Live Cam page is now getting updated again. The history is:

A lightening strike totaled some equipment including the previous web camera.

I ordered a replacement but it actually didn’t interface with the way I wanted to talk to the camera.

I ordered a replacement like the old one but with better resolution but it got lost.

I ordered another replacement but it took forever to get here.

I bought one very much like the old one but it actually has “improved” firmware. That seems to mean that it is compatible with the rtsp protocol that most new cameras support. But, what that really meant is that rtsp replaced the feature I was using — ftp still photos at a given interval. So, I changed how I talk to the camera.

I put a program called motion on the server system and spent all too much time configuring it. It turned out that the default package was an older version so the configuration options were not working properly. Finally fixed and the first images are up there. Tomorrow, the mid-day image should get updated.

One project down, 100 others to get done.

]]>Coffee, anyone?http://casasderocio.com/coffee-anyone/
Tue, 01 May 2018 14:58:54 +0000http://casasderocio.com/?p=836Well, like virtually anywhere in Guatemala, coffee is not new but how we are making it is. Introducing Sr. Jura, our new family member. Of, more specifically, Jura E8. He is now in charge of making your coffee.

This is an automatic coffee maker. You just push a button (push twice for twice as much) and he grinds the beans and makes the coffee. Or espresso. For those you want some kind of milk (we try to give you a choice between cow and almond) you can also select latte, flat white and something else I forget.

If you are not into caffeine, the machine will also dispense hot water for tea.

We just got it last night and are just learning about it. The first thing we learned is that the beans I bought are not that exciting. In a few days we will try the next kind until we find something we really like.

]]>Our Not Good Easterhttp://casasderocio.com/our-not-good-easter/
Sat, 31 Mar 2018 13:42:40 +0000http://casasderocio.com/?p=829First, I want to apologize to the clients whose reservations we had to cancel. While we try to be prepared for anything, this anything was bigger than our plans. The short answer is NO WATER. Not just for us but for the community.

Now, unlike most of our neighbors, we have a cistern which directly fills from the municipal water main and then a pump which pumps water into an 1100 liter tank up the hill. We missed checking the cistern level for a couple of days. When I saw it was empty I went up the hill and checked the tank. Less than half full, all the rooms were full and we would have sheets and towels to wash the next day. Oops.

The next day there was some water from the municipality but only enough to fill the tank. Still nothing in the cistern and, today, again no water. So, we have had a very dry Easter and canceled a lot of bookings. Sorry.

On to better things, the photo is of neighbors decorating the streets — a yearly tradition here. This photo was taken directly in front of Casa Colonial. There were more decorations and candles later but it was too dark for photos. Virtually all the streets of town were decorated.

While I am offering up photos, this one was taken before 0600 this morning as I was up the hill behind the B&B watering some plants. It was just starting to get light so you could see the hills on the other side of the lake but the moon was still visible. This reminds me of one of the big reasons I live living here. For those who are thinking “they have no water but he was irrigating plants”, let me explain. There is municipal water for household use and there is irrigation water which runs in ditches. We have irrigation water but it is not exactly the kind of stuff you would want to use to wash your clothes or anything else unless you don’t mind the end result being brown.

Do we have any plans for changes here? Lots but adding a second water storage tank up the hill behind the building just got added to the list. I’ll keep you posted.

]]>No, We Are Not in Thailandhttp://casasderocio.com/no-we-are-not-in-thailand/
Sat, 11 Nov 2017 15:27:21 +0000http://casasderocio.com/?p=803Sorta funny, sorta not. But, no, Casas de Rocio did not move to the Gulf of Bengal.

Something was wrong with our reservations. We use both AirBnB and Booking but we normally get about twice as many reservations through AirBnB than through Booking. For the last few months we have had zero AirBnB reservations. It was time for me to investigate.

I looked us up. The four listings looked OK. Then I looked at the map. We appeared out in the ocean west of Thailand. Huh? As the map coordinates — not the description of the location — are what is used is searches, anyone looking for a hotel in any place except the Gulf of Bengal was not going to see our listing. And even if that is where they did want to stay, the description was not going to match.

In any case, it’s fixed. For you, what it means is that rooms that are normally already reserved in December are not. So, there is an opportunity for you.

]]>Pay Us with Bitcoinhttp://casasderocio.com/pay-us-with-bitcoin/
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 21:33:35 +0000http://casasderocio.com/?p=799I keep forgetting to post this always intending to do a serious site upgrade and include this information but never get around to it. So, let me say it now: you can pay your bill here with Bitcoin.

If you want to do that, send email to info@casasderocio.com and we will respond with an amount and bitcoin address. I will formalize this and get it integrated into the site.

Why Bitcoin?

Aside from being a believer in Bitcoin and wanting to offer one more place where people can spend it, it offers convenience for all of us:

We are a little business and accepting credit cards would cost us more than it is worth.

While you can pay with PayPal, not everyone has a PayPal account and, in Guatemala, you must have an account to send a payment.

For international transactions, there are no issues.

If you don’t know what Bitcoin is, this video will tell you more than you probably want to know. While it gets a little technical in places it really is designed for a regular consumer rather than a computer geek.